14th of July. In France, they call it the Bastille Day – the celebration marked as their National Day. During the day, they’ll repeat the national slogan “liberté, égalité, fraternité” (freedom, equality and brotherhood) over and over again. Such a beautiful slogan. 14th of July 2013. There I was, among my French and Indonesian friends, right in front of the Eiffel Tower to celebrate the Bastille Day. The slogan “liberté, égalité, fraternité” was heard repeatedly from the loudspeakers near the stage, and written on the giant screen in front of us – all in some special effects. So fancy. But what happened to me just few hours before that wasn’t fancy at all. And it was absolutely far from the “liberté, égalité, fraternité” catchphrase that had been promoted during the Bastille Day. At least for the “égalité” part. Going back some two hours earlier, I was in a bakery shop near the Eiffel Tower with a French friend. We wanted to buy something to eat later while enjoying the performance staged on the Champs de Mars. When my turn arrived, I asked to the female vendor for a piece of pizza. After she reheated the pizza, she put it on a napkin and gave it to me. Since the pizza was very hot and I was planning to eat it later in front of the stage, I asked her nicely, “s’il vous plaît, vous avez une boite ou un sac pour le pizza?” (“do you have a box or a paper bag for the pizza, please?”). The lady looked at me like some kind of virus and to my surprise, she slashed me with some mean words. “I don’t want to give you a box or paper bag. You Asian tourists have no manner, you like to litter everywhere and make Paris dirty!” I was in shock upon hearing her racist remark, and could only said, “Pardon?” She repeated her words and my French friend came forward and tried to calm me down. She whispered to me “calm down Dian, leave her alone, you’d never want to argue with French people. Once they start, they will never stop. Do not lose your time over them”. But of course, I couldn’t just stay silent. I told that racist lady, “I’m Asian, but I’m not tourist. I live in Paris and I speak to you in French. And I don’t litter everywhere like how you accused me!” I was such in a deep shock, because I knew for sure that costumers in front of me were given some paper bags. And besides, what’s wrong with giving a customer a paper bag? Worse, what’s with this racist attitude? After telling her that, she took a small paper bag and threw it on the desk. THREW, not gave. I almost exploded but my French friend dragged me out of the bakery shop quickly. She felt so bad for what just happened. She tried to make me feel better. “Dian, if we’re not rude, we’re not French,” she said in French, trying to make some jokes. Throughout the night, I couldn’t detach my mind from what just happened. Amid beautiful melodies of some French songs performed live by famous singers and the spectacular fireworks, my mind stuck on the slogan “liberté, égalité, fraternité”. As the event came to an end, thousands of people left the place. Then something struck me. This group of people next to us left their empty cans, bottles and food packaging just like that. And they’re no tourists. They’re French.